Domna Visvizi | |
|---|---|
 Visvizi's bust in thePedion tou Areos | |
| Native name | Δόμνα Βισβίζη |
| Nickname | Bouboulina of Thrace |
| Born | 1783 |
| Died | 1850 (aged 67) |
| Allegiance | Greece |
| Rank | Captain |
Domna Visvizi (Greek: Δόμνα Βισβίζη; 1783–1850) was a Greek maritime captain who fought in theGreek War of Independence. At the outbreak of the war, Visvizi joined her husband Chatzi Antonis Visvizis to fight for the Greek cause onboard the shipKalomoira. After her husband was killed in battle in July 1822, Visvizi took command of the ship and continued to fight in the war. Among other contributions, Visvizi aided in the Greek capture of the island ofEuboea. After running low on funds and being rejected additional funding by the Greek leadership, Visvizi gave over theKalomoira to the Greek navy in 1824. After the war she was left destitute and with next to no government support lived in poverty until her death in 1850.
Visvizi was born onChios in 1783.[1] Her family were rich landowners.[2] In 1808, at the age of 25,[2][3] she married her husband Chatzi Antonis Visvizis inAinos,[1] a maritime city inEast Thrace.[4] Visvizis was a wealthy ship-owner and one of the first members of theFiliki Eteria, a secret organization working to overthrow the rule of theOttoman Empire over Greece.[4] Visvizi was herself also later initiated into the Filiki Eteria.[3][4]
Visvizi and Visvizis had five children together,[1][3] three boys and two girls.[3] Their youngest child was born after Visvizis's death in 1822.[2]
At the outbreak of theGreek War of Independence in 1821, Ottoman forces attacked and ravaged Greek settlements in East Thrace since they were close to the imperial capital ofConstantinople. Visvizi and Visvizis swiftly decided to take action;[4] on 23 March 1821[2] they took their best ship, theKalomoira, loaded it with valuables and people (including their five children), and armed it for war, setting out into theAegean Sea.[4] The ship also carried with itreligious icons, the bones of Visvizi's ancestors and a sample of soil from Ainos.[2] Visvizi, who had been madeSympolemistria (co-captain) by her husband, is upon setting out said to have stated "We do not regret spending money, since it will be used to build the golden palace of liberty".[4]
TheKalomoira is said to have successfully partaken in several victorious battles under the command of the couple.[4] Among other battles they took part in the campaign ofEmmanouel Pappas inChalkidiki and fought off the coasts ofAthos,Lesbos andSamos.[2][5] On 21 July 1822,[4] Visvizis was killed in a naval operation nearEuboea,[1] reportedly being shot and killed in front of Visvizi's eyes while leading a fleet of thirty ships into battle in theMalian Gulf.[4]
After the death of her husband, Visvizi took over command of theKalomoira and its crew and continued to fight in the war.[1][6] Visvizi was reportedly a skilled and respected naval commander and her ship instilled fear among the Ottoman fleet. TheKalomoira not only partook in battles but also at times transported food and ammunition,[4] for instance supplying soldiers onSkiathos[2] and the forces ofOdysseas Androutsos on the mainland.[5][7] Androutsos later wrote that his forces would have perished without Visvizi's aid.[5] Among her contributions to the war were pinning down Ottoman forces on Euboea, preventing them from travelling to central Greece, and bombarding their camps, aiding in the successful Greek landing on the island.[2]
Visvizi continued to captain theKalomoira until the end of 1823,[1] having fought for nearly three years,[8] when she no longer possessed the funds necessary to continue maintaining the ship. She petitioned the Greek government for financial aid but was not given any.[1] As a result, she in 1824 gave over theKalomoira to the Greek navy.[1] Having suffered extensive damage during battles,[9] theKalomoira was then converted into afireship.[9] Later in 1824 theKalomoira sank the Ottoman shipHazne Gemnisi.[4]
After 1824, Visvizi and her family lived in poverty.[1] They first lived inNafplio and then inErmoupoli.[4] In Nafplio, Visvizi partnered with a monk to open a coffee shop but he stole her money; she was also taken advantage of by fraudsters in Ermoupoli.[2] In order to be able to support her children, she petitioned the Greek government for financial assistance[1][4] but was granted a monthly allowance of only thirtydrachmas, the smallest possible amount.[10] One of Visvizi's children died in a famine in 1826.[2]
Visvizi's eldest son, Themistocles Dimitrios, was sent to study in Paris by the French Philhellenic Committee.[1][2] Themistocles would later serve as the governor ofNaxos 1845–1876.[2]
In 1845,[9] Visvizi moved toPiraeus inAthens, where she lived in a small hut next to the sea.[4] She died in poverty in 1850[1][2] at the age of 67.[4]
Already in life, Visvizi's efforts in the war inspiredfolk poetry.[2] After her death, Visvizi was nicknamed the "Bouboulina of Thrace".[3][4] Despite achieving some renown, the participation of women such as Visvizi in the Greek War of Independence was long underestimated and nearly ignored by historians in the 19th and 20th centuries.[2] Among figures such asManto Mavrogenous ofTrieste,Konstandia Zaharia ofSparta,Savaina ofMani, andAsimo Lidouriki of Athens, Visvizi is considered one of the lesser known heroines of the war.[11]
Visvizi has a statue inAlexandroupoli,[4] built in 2005.[3] She also has a bust in thePedion tou Areos, a park in Athens built to honor heroes of the Greek War of Independence. The bust was also inaugurated in 2005.[2]